Bee Monson

Biography

Bee Monson was born Beatrice Susan French on April 11, 1900 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her father, Elmer French, owned a dry goods store. The family later moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. During World War 1 she entertained soldiers at Fort Douglas . After her father died she moved to Los Angeles with her mother Anna. Bee was signed by Marion Con productions in 1919 and started playing bit parts. Then she was offered a contract with Jack White's Mermaid pictures. The raven haired beauty was Lloyd Hamilton's leading lady in the comedies April Fool and Moonshine. Her nickname was "The Honey Girl". She also played on an all-female baseball team in Hollywood. In 1921 she appeared in the Western The Sheriff of Hope Eternal. This would be her final film. The twenty-one year old decided to give up acting. Bee married Edward Kenton Cleary, a salesman, in 1924. For several years she worked as a corset designer. Then she started a new career as a beautician. Tragically in 1935 her husband Edward died from tuberculosis. She continued to live a quiet life in Los Angeles. On December 31, 1967 she died at the age of sixty-seven.